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An Equestrian Life

Horses, Trail Rides, Vintage
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September 19, 2016

Local Explorations

My truck is still not usable to pull my trailer, so I’m still grounded at home. I don’t know how anyone can manage without having a trailer because these last two months have been very frustrating.

I really wanted to go trail riding, but since I have no trailer, and no trails, I decided to just head out on the roads. My roads are a little scary, they are paved country roads, but I was going to be brave.

My neighborhood used to have a horse trail, but the property was sold and the new owner put up lots of “No Trespassing” signs. He is well within his rights to keep people off his land, but it’s very sad for everyone who lives in the area, as it was the last local trail. Horse trails have been disappearing at a rapid pace, and there doesn’t seem to be any stopping this trend. When I was a teenager, I could ride out from my house for miles, although I did just assume permissions in many places. Then, neighborhoods and horse farms were built, and fences went up everywhere.

As I’ve only lived in my current neighborhood a few years, I didn’t get to experience any real trails here. My neighbor told me she used to ride all over, and trails were everywhere. But, the same thing happened here, and now everything is closed off.

gravel road

The end of my road.

Vintage is a good solo explorer. I don’t trust Berry not to be crazy, but Vintage I can just sit back and relax…for the most part anyway. She looked around at everything, and she kept trying to tell me she wanted to go home. At one point, I was talking on the phone, and she tried to make a walking dash for home. It was unsuccessful.

murky pond

A pond with very scary geese.

Once we were off my neighborhood roads, everything was paved. It was a little terrifying because people drive very fast down those roads. They’ve got places to be, I suppose.

"Aim for the riders!"

“Aim for the riders!”

We crossed over a portion of road that had a double striped line, and this was greatly confusing to Vintage. Is this a ground pole? Should she jump it? WHY ARE THERE TWO SO CLOSE TOGETHER!?

street

She decided a slight hop with her front end was the solution.

Crossing the lines marked the furthest I’ve ridden from my farm. It was now a totally new area for me.

There was lovely barn landscaping.

There was lovely barn landscaping.

I traveled down that road for a bit, but eventually the shoulder disappeared, and the road had a blind corner. I’m not quite brave enough for that, so I turned around. Vintage was extremely glad to be heading back. I basically dropped the reins and she steered the whole way. She’s very devoted to going home.

Back up my neighborhood road.

Back up my neighborhood road.

Maybe I’ll explore around the blind corner next time… with my car. To see if its safe. Then I’ll go back with the horse. Good plan, I think.

11 Comments
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  • Sarah
    September 19, 2016

    Solid plan. I’ve only ridden out our road once because people are idiots and FLY down it. 🙁

    Reply
    • Courtney
      Sarah
      September 21, 2016

      People are scary!

      Reply
  • Olivia
    September 19, 2016

    The loss of equestrian land saddens me as well. My barn owner said they used to be able to ride to the beach from our barn (like 50 miles away, but the trails existed). Now we can’t go much further than a few miles without the trailer.

    Reply
    • Courtney
      Olivia
      September 21, 2016

      That’s too bad 🙁 A ride to the beach sounds awesome. Quite a journey, but still, awesome!

      It’s terrible that it’s happening everywhere. There really doesn’t seem to be any way to stop it.

      Reply
  • Emma
    September 20, 2016

    Aww good Vintage!!

    Reply
    • Courtney
      Emma
      September 21, 2016

      She’s such a good girl!

      Reply
  • Micaylah
    September 20, 2016

    I totally get how you feel but I have never had the opportunity to trailer out for rides lol but I so want to just hop on and go!

    Reply
    • Courtney
      Micaylah
      September 21, 2016

      haha make due with what you have!

      Reply
  • Nicole
    September 21, 2016

    Your neighbor hood is so beautiful! And I actually can’t get over Vintage’s amazing hair situation.

    Reply
    • Courtney
      Nicole
      September 21, 2016

      Thank you!

      Yes, it’s quite incredible. She styles it herself. She likes to put in red highlights, the mud supplies the dye.

      Reply
  • Hillary
    September 27, 2016

    That sounds like a pretty awesome ride! Bummer that the local trails are dissapearing!

    Reply

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